Blood, Sweat & Beers: The Woodstock Legacy [1969-1999]
"It was chaos, wasn’t it? What was going on off the stage was just beyond comprehension - stretchers and dead bodies and people throwing up and people having bad trips . . . I thought the whole of America had gone mad." --Pete Townshend, The Who
"If you can remember Woodstock, you probably weren’t there." --Wavy Gravy
"It was unbelievable, man; I was looking for Jesus out there . . . But all I saw was bottles and titties." --Kid Rock
"Holy shit, it looks like Apocalypse Now out there." --Anthony Kiedis, Red Hot Chili Peppers
"Rage Against the Latrines" --Title of Rolling Stone cover story on Woodstock ’99
Locale
1969: Max Yasgur’s farm, Bethel, New York
1999: Griffiss Air Force Base, Rome, New York
Total Cost
1969: $2.4 million
1999: $38 million
Slogan
1969: "Three Days of Peace and Music"
1999: "Three More Days of Peace and Music"
Estimated Attendance
1969: 500,000
1999: 220,000
Ticket Cost
1969: $18 for three days in advance; free at the gate
1999: $150 for three days in advance; $180 at the gate
Opening Act
1969: Richie Havens, Friday afternoon, August 15, 5:07 PM
1999: James Brown, Friday afternoon, July 23, 12:01 PM
Headliners
1969: Arlo Guthrie, Joan Baez, The Band, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jeff Beck Group, Jefferson Airplane, Santana, Sly & the Family Stone, The Who
1999: James Brown, Bush, The Chemical Brothers, Collective Soul, Sheryl Crow, George Clinton & the P-Funk All Stars, Counting Crows, Dave Matthews Band, Everclear, Ice Cube, Jewel, Kid Rock, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Live, Megadeth, Metallica, Alanis Morissette, Willie Nelson, Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers
How Did They Get An Invite?
1969: Sha-Na-Na
1999: Insane Clown Posse
Conspicuously Absent
1969: Bob Dylan, The Doors
1999: Aerosmith, The Reverend Al Green, Sugar Ray
Faded Into Obscurity
1969: Incredible String Band, Sweetwater, Bert Sommer, Quill, Canned Heat, Keef Hartley, Ten Years After, Mountain, Melanie, Paul Butterfield Blues Band
1999: We shall see!
Performer Salaries
1969: Jimi Hendrix Experience, $18,000; The Who, $12,500; Jefferson Airplane, $12,000; Creedence Clearwater Revival, $11,500; Grateful Dead, $7,500; Santana, $1,500
1999: Several bands such as Metallica, Korn and Rage reported to have received up to $350,000 for 90-minute sets.
Song List
1969: "Freedom" (Richie Havens), "Raga Manj Kmahaj" (Ravi Shankar), "Coming Into Los Angeles" (Arlo Guthrie), "Piece of My Heart" (Janis Joplin), "Proud Mary" (Creedence Clearwater Revival), "We’re Not Gonna Take It" (The Who), "White Rabbit" (Jefferson Airplane), "Wooden Ships" (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young), "Fire" (Jimi Hendrix)
1999: "Under the Bridge" (Red Hot Chili Peppers), "Break Stuff" (Limp Bizkit), "A Long December" (Counting Crows), "New Orleans is Sinking" (The Tragically Hip), "One Hit Wonder" (Everclear), "Sex Machine" (James Brown), "No Shelter" (Rage Against the Machine), "Porno Creep" (Korn), "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (Metallica), "All Along the Watchtower" (Dave Matthews Band)
Most Memorable Song
1969: Jimi Hendrix’s rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner"
1999: Red Hot Chili Peppers’ rendition of Jimi Hendrix’s "Fire"
Nicknames
1969: "Woodstock Nation"
1999: "Titstock," "Boobstock"
Key Terms
1969: Tie-dyed Shirts, Peace Signs, Painted Buses, Yippies, Bad Acid Trips, Skinny-Dipping, Free Love
1999: Beer Gardens, Mosh Pits, Crowd Surfing, Body Piercing, Tattoos, Bottled Water, "Show Us Your Tits," Bonfires, Extreme Sports, MTV, Hacky Sack
Special Guests
1969: Activist Abbie Hoffman, Imbecilic Clown Wavy Gravy
1999: Austin Powers Star "Mini-Me" (Vern Troyer), The Doors’ Robbie Krieger
Drugs of Choice
1969: Pot, Acid
1999: Pot, Acid, Crack
Crimes Reported
1969: Drug Possession, Trespassing
1999: Rape, Sexual Assault, Reckless Endangerment, Criminal Mischief, Looting, Arson, Mayhem
Births
1969: 2
1999: Unknown
Deaths
1969: 3 (one heroin overdose, one ruptured appendix, one run over by tractor)
1999: 2 (causes unknown)
Lawsuits Filed After Festival
1969: 80
1999: N/A
Food Prices
1969: Hot Dog, $1
1999: Bottled Water, $4; Pretzel, $4; Beer, $5, Pizza, $12
Merchandising
1969: Souvenir Program, Poster, T-shirt
1999: Hemp Nachos, Henna Tattoos, $30 Darth Maul Bong, $1,500 Blown-glass Bong, Woodstock Platinum MasterCard
Number of Portable Toilets
1969: 600
1999: 2,500
Films
1969: Woodstock, 1970, directed by Michael Wadleigh (Martin Scorsese served as one of the film’s editors)
1999: Woodstock ’99, Pay-Per-View, $59.95 for three days
Legacy
1969: Yuppies, BMW’s, Bottled Water, Car Phones, The Big Chill, Crack
1999: Looted Vendor Tents, Smashed ATM Machines, Toppled Porta Potties, Overturned Cars, Damaged Speaker Towers, Raging Bonfires, State Troopers in Riot Gear
CONCLUSIONS
- Even though only about 500,000 Baby Boomers attended the original Woodstock festival, several million more claim to have been there.
- Rock stars don’t give a shit about making history - they just want to get paid.
- Just about everybody sells out eventually (witness Country Joe McDonald’s appearance in a 1994 Pepsi commercial featuring a Yuppie Woodstock reunion).
- A former toxic waste dump in upstate New York is not the best locale for a concert.
- Passing out "peace candles" to 220,000 pissed off Generation Xers right before the Red Hot Chili Peppers take the stage is probably not a good idea.